Like creating and experiencing the sensual satisfaction of a perfectly balanced meal, finding true love is often an experimental journey of discovering the (nearly) perfect combination of need and desire. And whether this encounter with love uplifts us or leaves us broken hearted, the need to express its triumphs and betrayals is universal. Perhaps there is nothing more creatively provoking and moving than art that manifests from such fervent experiences. And so, in the spirit of this Valentine’s Day, Duboski Art Collab is very pleased to shine a bright spotlight on contemporary artists Jahlil Nzinga, a creative who allows his work to exhibit a wide spectrum of the human experience; it is vulnerable yet confident, cerebral, uninhibited, and unapologetically passionate.

     Hailing from California, Nzinga is a highly emotive visual artist who employs avant-garde techniques and unconventional medium combinations to explore themes of modern culture and his understanding and experience of and within it. In contrast to the written word or literal visual expressions, Nzinga’s surrealist style allows him to translate his most authentic feelings and dreams from the deepest part of himself. So improvisational is his work that he equates it to a passion murder—exploding with emotion and without constraint or premeditated design. Nzinga says he is particularly aware that his work is not only expressive but also spiritually cleansing. Constructing works that explore themes of darkness allow him to expel his burdens and transfer them to canvas. For Nzinga, there is a beauty and transformative power in choosing joy in the face of challenges. Because of this, Nzinga cannot help but exude a love of his craft and an enthusiasm for what lies ahead.        

     And Nzinga has big plans for the future, indeed. He aims to turn the art world upside down as he feels its outdated systems and economic structures have unjustly profited at the expense of the artist for far too long. Nzinga understands that an artist cannot be separated from any component of his life-affirming work and that in order to experience full freedom from the demands of commercialized art, he must own and execute all processes of his work and showcase of it. In preserving himself in this way, Nzinga hopes to curate a collaborative, supportive, and liberated generation of artists that can receive the full rewards of their labor and love.